Tips for finding lost arrows?

[pintail_drake2004]

Hey yall, well Sunday i shot at and missed a doe with my trad gear and i cannot find my arrow. I have looked for the past 5 days and still nothing. It was in a calf/knee high hay field. I typically dont have trouble finding my carbons but this was one of my cedar arrows with my first flint head-I WANT IT BACK!!! Any advice?

I like carbons so much, they find themselves. I shot at and missed a buck yesterday morning then about 30 min later i shot a doe (with training wheels cuz im running out of time). The arrow passed through and stuck in the ground over top the arrow i missed with earlier. I dont know why im having so much trouble finding my flint arrow!!!

[bowhunterfrompast]

You can't find your cedar arrow with the flint head because you slipped back to the dark side    

All kidding aside, keep looking, hope you find it.

bhfp

[John3]

   

[BobW]

yep, the "trad gods" are punishing you.....

[Lost Arra]

Are you sure you missed???  

[Pat B]

Mother Nature doesn't care much for carbon arrows but appreciates a good cedar arrow. She thanks you! I try to donate a few hard earned hand made arrows to her each year!     Pat

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

I shot at a fat doe tonite as well. I too missed and spent a fair amount of time looking for the arrow.  

Normally, I'd look at it as a sacrifice, and not worry about it, but the broadhead I lost was a 145gr Ribtek, and Ribtek's just aint found anywhere anymore!

I'm going back tomorrow with a metal detector and scour the area. Usually, I take a stick and start raking grass and leaves until I find it, but this early season grass swallows up arrows prtty well!

[Soilarch]

Won't help you on this one arrow...but since I started using white (either wraps/crests or fletching/feathers) on my arrow they stand out much much easier against natural surroundings.

I've had animals about 30 or 40 yards from me several times with 7" to 8" solid white crests and 2 white blazers and 1 lime green blazer. Animals don't seem to mind.  Make it easier to follow in flight as well.

[wihill]

Pick the most obnoxious feather colors you can think of - the ones your buddies will give you no end of grief over.  

I catch flak all the time for my neon pink and yellow feathers, but I've yet to loose one.

[B M A]

Yellow & White stand out very well.  Pink & blue also stand out very well.  Here are some pics
 
 
 
 
 

[SL]

I use to know a guy that would use pheasant scent on his arrows. When he would lose some arrows stumping or whatever he would go get his bird dog to find them.Seemed to work well.
SL

[pintail_drake2004]

thanks for the tips fellas. I think i will use different colored feathers next time (but still try to keep them as traditional as possible). Those natural barred turkey feathers blend in and cedar shafts in a hay field dont exactly stick out!

[Biggie Hoffman]

My sons black lab can find it!

[Shedrock]

I did the same thing. I ended up bringing a pitch fork out there and found it right away, buried under the old dead grass.

[TomMcDonald]

Originally posted by wihill:
Pick the most obnoxious feather colors you can think of - the ones your buddies will give you no end of grief over.  

I catch flak all the time for my neon pink and yellow feathers, but I've yet to loose one.

Well if you don't loose them how you gonna lose them?

[wihill]

Originally posted by TomMcDonald:
 

Originally posted by wihill:
Pick the most obnoxious feather colors you can think of - the ones your buddies will give you no end of grief over.  

I catch flak all the time for my neon pink and yellow feathers, but I've yet to lose one.

Well if you don't loose them how you gonna lose them? [/b]

Darn my grammer.    :D

[Pat B]

Add tracers to the back of your arrows to help you see the arrow in flight when it hits and when lost. I use white or chartreuse rabbit zonkers from a fly tying shop.     Pat

[pintail_drake2004]

where can i find tracers?

[wingnut]

A tip for finding an arrow is to look where it is.  Most of us don't take the time to retrace the shot.  Go back to where you shot from, mark where the deer was and the line that the arrow flew.  Now spend all of your time looking on that line.  I've found a bunch of arrows over the years. ( I miss a lot. . .LOL) And looking where it went is the best thing I do.

Sometimes I will stick an arrow where I shot from and where the animal was, that way I can look back and line the two up to make sure I'm on line.

Mike

[Pat B]

I buy rabbit zonkers from a fly tying shop. You can make your own. The ones I get are strips of rabbit hide with fur that are already cut into 1/4" strips. I cut enough to wrap once around the shaft add a bit of fletching tape and wrap it just above the back of the feathers. I have used Tite-Bond and Duco glue to attach them too.
   The tracers lay down in flight when they hit they pop open to make the arrow placement more noticeable.    Pat